Saturday, 12 August 2017

Wargame Myths Again

‘Treating Spanish musketeers as
the functional equivalent of Persian archers, or Swiss pikemen as updated Greek
hoplites, is commonplace among those who wish to use the richness of the past
to create situations or scenarios to instruct or entertain modern students. But
this way of handling the past violates something deep within the historian’s
conscience, effacing all that is distinctive and unique about the early period
of firearms use and imposing a certain bland uniformity on the material. In the
final analysis, such pattern making is only as good as the historiography that
informs it’

I mentioned recently that I had
been reading about warfare in Britain 1485 – 1746 – Charles Carlton’s book
about which I blogged recently. I noted then that I had, and had read, a number
of the works Carlton mentioned. Bert Hall’s tome is one of them. I do remember
reading it, but I cannot recall its contents. And so I now have a pile of books
to re-read, as well as a pile to read. Of
the buying of books, of course, there is no end. I just need another few hours
a day to read them in.

So, I picked up Hall’s book and, during
a lunchtime at work, started to read it. Lo and behold, I ran across the quote
above in the first few pages. Now, as an exercise, try re-reading the last
sentence substituting the word ‘wargaming’ for ‘pattern making’. In fact, I
shall do it for you below:

‘In the final analysis, such wargaming
is only as good as the historiography that informs it’

I am, of course, making a heavy
handed point here. We know, because we have seen them, and played them, that
there are many wargame rules out there, and many wargame periods. We also know
that there are many wargame rules which, by shifting period and troop types,
think that they can sell a load more copies (do any wargame rules sell a ‘load’,
I wonder) and not have to do much in the way of historical research or thinking
about rule mechanisms.

Despite my protestations about
this issue, there do seem to be increasing numbers of said rule types around. They
may well, of course, have advantages. The rules, to players familiar with
another period, might be easy to pick up. The core mechanisms might be rather
good, or streamlined, or whatever it is that makes a good set of rules for a
wargame. They may give a good, fun game, a cliff-hanger of excitement and
engagement. Nevertheless, I think the modified quote from Hall skewers them
quite accurately.

A set of wargame rules is only as
good as the quality of understanding of the period which has gone into it. This
is, of course, jeopardized if the writer of the rules approaches with a bunch
of categories from another period. This is what Hall is saying: Spanish
musketeers were not just souped up Persian arches facing souped up hoplites.
Hoplites are hoplites and Swiss pike are Swiss pike. They are not the same
thing, and should not be considered as such.

‘Who,’ you might ask, ‘rattled
your cage this time?’ I admit it, I have written on this before, and yet it
still annoys me. The specific issue I have is trying to find some rule set
sufficient from the wars of Elizabeth Tudor. I have a few on my shelf which
might be suitable: DBR and Renaissance Principles of War. I am sure you can
spot the problem I have just referred to – they derive from rule sets designed
for different periods.

I wold not mind quite so much, and
would be prepared to use them (as I have in the past) for some fun games if I
did not have a historical quibble with both of them This is that they both
regard the Spanish tercio as a battlefield unit. The classic pike block with a
block of musketeers at each corner is there in the rules.

‘What is the problem with that?’
you might ask. Well, it is fine if you are trying to reproduce the artwork of
the time. However, there is no evidence that tercios, thus deployed, had any
presence on any battlefield. A little thought from the rule writers might have
convinced them of the fact. Spanish commanders were not lacking in common
sense. Deploying half your firepower to a position where they could not do
anything on the battlefield is not wise. There is no evidence that Spanish
commanders were stupid.

‘Wargaming is only as good as the
historiography that informs it.’ Granted, if you want a fun game with huge
units blundering around, then deploying tercios under the rules will deliver.
But it is sadly lacking in historical verisimilitude. Spanish tercios were administrative units, not
battlefield deployments. The art of the time is fun but not accurate. Deploying
a tercio is not historical wargaming; it is even closer to fantasy than normal
wargaming.

There used to be a rather good
web page on the subject of tercios, but I cannot find it. However, the gist of
it was, I believe as above. However, the myth of the tercio continues, I suspect,
in wargaming circles, along with a whole load of other myths like the
mid-seventeenth century musket rest, the caracole and the effectiveness of the
pilum, not to mention the greatness of Alexander III of Macedon or Frederick of
Prussia.

Nevertheless, I have not solved
my rules problem. I would like a set of rules specifically for the ‘Elizabethan’
period – and I do know that the English were rather bit players in the wars of
the time. And I would rather some rules, or at least army lists that noticed
that the bow and bill armed men were recorded as ‘unarmed’ after 1585, and that
the trained bands were not totally hopeless but selected and, well, trained.

Maybe I set the bar too high for
a wargaming backwater period. I shall probably have to write my own.

Its hard to get around writing one's own rules if one really wants to agree with them but putting that aside I'll proceed with some thoughts which might appear to be random and unconnected.

Without detailed first hand accounts backed by period manuals etc, it is hard to have more than a vague idea of many or most historical organizations and tactics. Most interpretations are naturally bound up in what information we can gleam crossed with what we can imagine based on our experience and by whatever intrinsic traditions, patterns or assumptions that we have inherited.

I suspect that once we glue little men to a cardboard base and call it "a" "unit" we tend to forget that military organizations tend to have various levels of organization, both formal and informal. We also forget that people were smart, even way back when and they did things that made sense to sensible, experienced people that we don't always understand from our experience and that they rarely always did the same thing regardless of the situation.

Reading Montluc's memoirs (alas edited and translated though I suspect reading 16thC French in the original would have taxed my understanding at the very least) showed a surprising degree of initiative and flexibility in early and mid 16thC infantry in which men could be detached from big blocks on occasion, even in mid battle, if the situation warranted it and the troops were well led.

Without knowing anything about tercios other than at the usual wargame survey history level, I could easily see the formal organization as shown in art as being very useful on a battlefield, especially at the start and on the march. Firstly if the flanks were not going to be secure because of the fluidity of supporting cavalry and skirmishers but also as a way to keep a local reserve not initially committed but which could be used to respond to what ever threats emerged or to replace or reinforce the men committed initially. Many armies have found a reserve useful in battle it being much easier to react or reinforce using previously un-engaged troops rather than trying to extricate committed troops to redeploy them. I think the closest I've seen to this a set of "pike & shot" wargame rules that could handle something like that is the old George Gush WRG Renaissance rules where the various blocks would be "sub-units" of the main pike block and could be used separately tactically.

As an aside regarding those 70's style rules with all their many fault, I was slightly shocked last year when rereading bits of Caesar's Commentaries to realize that his version of a battle sounded exactly like a 3rd ed WRG ancients battle, not that fielding an actual army at a 1:20 would fall under the heading of 'practical' in my books. The authors had however caught the FEEL of the battles as DESCRIBED in various ancient accounts.

I suspect you are right. The website Ilya suggests below says (in Section 5) that bits and pieces of tercio were detached for various reasons, during battle as well as on campaign. In fact I seem to remember it being commented that in the Low countries, due to the nature of the fighting, tercios were rarely together anyway. I suppose that is the way of garrison duty.

I think that the old version rules, while they may be rather dismissed today, are, at heart good systems, often created by people who knew a thing or two about combat and soldiers. Plus several of them were steeped in the classic texts for ancient wargaming. It was only the addition of chrome to some of the sets that started bogging them down. That and the inherent human propensity to continue tinkering.